| As I have been thinking about the birth of the Savior and preparing my Religious Education lessons and Sunday School lessons over the past several weeks, I began studying again in more detail the prophecies of the coming Messiah in the Old Testament and how Jesus fulfilled them all. There’s no doubt that it was statistically impossible for that to happen by chance or by human design and determination. I’m convinced that anyone who will sit down and consider the Scriptures and history with an open heart will also be persuaded that Jesus Christ is, without a doubt, the Son of the Living God Who came down upon the earth with the express purpose and plan of rescuing and saving every willing soul by His mercy and grace. The birth, life, death, burial, and resurrection of Christ is referred to as ‘The Greatest Story Ever Told’ for a reason. My heart was thrilled anew as I compared the Scriptures and the historical record to see how God delighted in giving us the details so that we would be more apt to believe. God doesn’t require a LOT of faith from us to be saved to receive the gift of eternal life. Instead, He gives us a preponderance of evidence through nature, prophetic statements, historical record, and eye-witness accounts to help us more easily believe. His lovingkindness and patience is overwhelming in this regard. I’ve only scratched the surface, but I wanted to share with you some of the Old Testament Scriptures and their New Testament counterparts that I compiled. I do hope that they will bless you and your family this Christmas as you think about the Savior and perhaps you might use them to persuade some others towards faith in Jesus. Prophecy: Genesis 3:15
"And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." Fulfillment: Galatians 4:4-5
"But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law. To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons."
Prophecy: Isaiah 7:14
"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Fulfillment: Matthew 1:22-23
"Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us."
Prophecy: Micah 5:2
"But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." Fulfillment: Matthew 2:1-6
"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem... And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet."
Prophecy of Abraham’s Descendant: Genesis 22:18
"And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice." Fulfillment: Matthew 1:1
"The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." Prophecy of Isaac’s Descendant: Genesis 21:12
"For in Isaac shall thy seed be called." Fulfillment: Luke 3:34
"Which was the son of Jacob, which was the son of Isaac, which was the son of Abraham..." Prophecy of Jacob’s Descendant: Numbers 24:17
"There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel..." Fulfillment: Luke 3:34
"Which was the son of Jacob, which was the son of Isaac, which was the son of Abraham..."
Prophecy: Genesis 49:10
"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be." Fulfillment: Hebrews 7:14
"For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood."
Prophecy: Zechariah 9:9
"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass." Fulfillment: John 12:13-15
"Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass's colt."
Prophecy: Isaiah 53:3
"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not." Fulfillment: John 1:11
"He came unto his own, and his own received him not."
Prophecy: Zechariah 11:12-13
"And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord." Fulfillment: Matthew 26:14-15
"Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, and said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver."
Prophecy: Isaiah 53:12
"Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." Fulfillment: Mark 15:27-28
"And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left. And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors."
Prophecy: Jonah 1:17
"Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights." Matthew 12:39-40
"But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."
Explanation Jesus Himself confirms that Jonah’s story was a foreshadowing of His own resurrection. Just as Jonah emerged alive after three days in the belly of the fish, Jesus would emerge victorious from the grave after three days in the tomb. This prophecy emphasizes both the literal resurrection of Christ and God’s sovereign power to accomplish His purposes, no matter the circumstances. Fulfillment: Acts 10:39-40
”And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree: Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly.
Prophecy: Psalm 2:7
"I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee." Fulfillment: Matthew 3:17
"And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
Prophecy: Jeremiah 23:5
"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth." Fulfillment: Luke 1:32-33
"He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end."
Prophecy: Isaiah 40:3
"The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God." Fulfillment: Matthew 3:1-3
"In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight."
Prophecy: Isaiah 49:6
"And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth." Fulfillment: Luke 2:30-32
"For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel."
Prophecy: Isaiah 35:5-6
"Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert." Fulfillment: Matthew 11:4-5
"Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them."
Those are just the first 15 on my list so far. I’m already up to 30 and have only scratched the surface. For more, continue reading this article at angieberg.com I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a new year filled with joy! Blessings,
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